Well my friend with a GN brought it out last night. I had the Lightning, and all night long all I heard was how his GN would "smoke Fords". So on our way home we caught a light. He brought the boost up at the light, and we both went for it. As usual his foot proved too heavy and he had a bad launch, I didn't and buried him out of the hole. I stayed in front til about 100mph. Too close to call a winner since we were about even by the end of the 1/4. BTW he has gone 11.12@120 with his car, way faster than any of my cars.

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99 Lightning black #2022, cd,tow package, stock
(13.73 @ 99.74)
98 Cobra coupe laser red
best stock et 13.43 @ 103
one run w/ 3.55 gears 13.34 @ 102 no other mods
former Chevy fan still have a few
72 SS454 11.6 @ 116 (slicks open headers)
68 Camaro 12.2 @ 116 (street tires closed exhast)

 

was he pullin on you pretty fast @ the top end? man that would have been great to see. How many car lengths did you get on him @ first? I cant wait to line up against a GN, LS1, or a cobra.

 

excuse me for the lack of knowledge...but does the GN you're referring to stand for Grand National? What year was it and can you give me some more details about the GN? Thanks

 

Interesting Kill...

I actually own an 87 GN, slightly modified and it has done a best of 12.32 in the Q.T. on street tires... That of course is running only 10 pounds of boost.

With it I have bitten a 99 red lightning, 99 corvette, and you can just name the porsches but I tell you what though, that 99 lightning ran great! For something that is that heavy hauling A&& is a sight.

Proud to have ran him and beat him. Hell, he even gave me thumbs up when I slowed for the next light and he caught up to me. Usually I just get the middle finger from the corvette guys...


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~
1999 Ford F150 XLT 4x4
Off Road Package
Tow Package
5.4L Automatic
Supercab
Electric 4x4 switch
Full bench interior
Factory running boards
Mods : superchip, gibson
swept-back exhaust, k&n
FIPK. Bug deflector.
Use : Mobil1 5w30 and
k&n oil filter.


[This message has been edited by kmonton99 (edited 12-22-1999).]

 

98_SVT_COBRA

My friend, I must tell you, the one GN I have encountered cleaned my clock. It is a friend of mine, running around 11-12 # boost. He runs high 11's in the 1/4 mile and has a very impressive launch. Vipers are afraid

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99 Black Lightning
Rhino liner
Superchip

 

I had a major lead out of the hole (around 4 to 5 cars), he has trouble with wheel spin up to about 60-70 MPH, and yes he did come around pretty quick. About the car - 86 Grand National mods are 29-30 PSI boost, 110 / 118 octane mix, twin 190 L/ph fuel pumps, 43.5 lb/hr injectors (soon to be 55's), 7th injector, ported heads, roller cam, TE-45 turbo, BIG intercooler, 3500 stall lock up converter, S-10 wheel cylinders, and of course a half dozen chips to tune for octane. The car still has the stock MAF sensor, throttle body, and gears. Since he put this new turbo on he has had trouble moderating the boost with the thottle. It kinda works like an on/off switch. The car was much more street friendly when it ran 11.50's, but on slicks I think he will make it way into the 10's. Last time out it went 11.12 @ 120 w/18 PSI. BTW we went a few nights ago from a 60 MPH roll and he just spun! I was at 110 when he passed me, I would guess he was at 130-140 or so.

 

Thoes GN are nasty nasty cars........I have driven many and always wanted to own one. A good friend of mine a while back let me play around with his. It is really something to lay rubber all the way through first and half way through second! As I remember, a 1986 TV advertisement said the "1987 Buick Regal Grand National is b-b-b-b-b-bad to the bone."

There is no doubt they ment it too.

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97 F-150 4.6 auto, 4x2, 3.55 LS, WMS Velocity tube, K&N, Dynomax Super Turbo exhaust with Echo chamber.
Oh yeah, it's Oxford White with crome wheels, Legacy shell & custom grill!



[This message has been edited by mlaugh (edited 12-23-1999).]

 

I know the GN's are nasty, but does anyone have any data on what the cars were rated at in total stock form. That is horsepower, torque and quarter mile times? I've got a 96 LT1 Vette that I am doing extensive research on mods and I am heavily leaning towards an ATI intercooled supercharger kit. It seems that all the wickedly fast cars on the road are supercharged; Lightnings, GN's, Typhoons, Syclones.

 

Hey Peter, ALL the info you may need can be found here http://www.turbobuick.com/messagebd/ have fun, but beware posting there, very mean kids.

 

You know its been a while since I've been there, I think I'll post there too. To answer Peter B - I remember when they first came out. I think they were rated at 245-235HP. Two of my friends bought them new. One ran high 14's the other low 14's (14.1)STOCK. They both put chips in them and the quicker one went high 13's, the other needed (beside the chip) an exhaust and more boost(than the chip provided) to reach 13's.

 

I remember distinctly the 0-60 times for the GN as reported in Car & Driver. It was the April issue, and I thought the car was an April fools joke. It ran 4.9 0-60, which is considerably faster than our beloved L. A friend of mine got his into the 12's with some serious work and appropriate tires.

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Sandy (Spider) Scott
99 White Lightning

 

One of my best friends has an 86 GN. His mom bought it new and drove it for 8 years, then passed it on to him.. what a lucky SOB. He has an after market turbo, and after market exhaust. With street slicks he can consistently turn 12.5s. Prior to the new turbo, when the car had about 75k miles on it, I raced him with my then new 96 Cobra. I had him by *maybe* a half car length both times before the police came cruising around. But with the aftermarket turbo, I never had a chance. These things are mean... I fear the GN.



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* 99.5 Black Lightning
* Factory CD Changer
* Class 3 Towing Hitch
* Factory Tonneau Cover
* 8" Bazooka Tubs
* Kenwood 80 watt *2 amp
* 50% Window Tint
* Viper 550 Alarm w/ remort start
* 98 Yamaha Banshee w/ Toomey T5 Chrome pipes often found in the bed..

Injection is nice, but I'd rather be blown. 99 Lightning, the best of both worlds!

 

The Buick Regal Grand National was rated at 235 horsepower by Buick, but auto writers and testers always felt that this number was way too conservative (Buick proably didn't want to state that they had a car with way more horespower then the mighty Corvette which was only rated at 230-235 in 1987) I think they estimated the power to be up near 300. 0-60 times were 4.9 for the Grand National, and 4.6 for the GNX (a very rare version of the Grand National - only 547 made) - and these were STOCK. Fast indeed!!!

It's great to hear about your stories with these great cars! Keep'em coming!

Silver_Roush

 

Car and driver estimated the actual HP at 280. I was going to make one my family car, but could not get my old lady interested. It is easy now, got rid of the old lady. (-:

 

What was not mentioned about the Buick GNs here is that they are essentially a Buick 3.8 V-6 and I believe that only the 1987 model was intercooled. Correct me if I am wrong here.

Everyone knew the hp rating was very conservative but Buick did this for insurance purposes as over 250 hp rated was the magic number for BIG insurance premiums.

There was a Fall grudge match in NJ two years ago at Atco Dragway: GNs vs Mustangs. Cars had to be "street legal" with a current NJ inspection sticker. ALL the new Cobra owners were seen cursing at their cars in the pit areas as they were methodically eliminated.

Friend turned a 12.61 @ 107mph and finished about 4th overall. This is a daily driver '87 Turbo with 120,000 miles on it. Yes, it's "chipped," 18 lbs boost, with one of those Turbo 400 slap shifter autotrans....but otherwise fairly much stock and about 3700 lbs without a driver.

The final 10 cars were all Buick GN/Turbos. It's the only street car that really scared me.



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Dunbarton "The Middle Aged Kid" '99 XLT SC SB 4x2 4.6 auto 3.55 ls The occasional Z-71 Eater! Wedgewood & Denim, SuperChipped, Airaid FIPK, Rhino Liner, Mobil 1. Man, I got it all! (New Jersey)